Wagon-brake.



No. 638,783. Patented Dec. l2, I899.

L. s. WHEELER.

WAGON BRAKE.

(Application filed. Apr. 17, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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QV/Z Latmeezer j flz wjz k UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAURENS S. XVHEELER, OF TYRO, KANSAS.

WAGON- BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,783, dated December12, 1899.

Application filed April 17, 1899.

To (tZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LAURENS S. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tyro, in the county of Montgomery and State of Kansas, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Wagon-Brakes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to vehicle-brakes of that class which are adaptedto be applied by hand and in which the brake-beam is supported from andbeneath the wagon-body and operated by mechanism attached to thewagon-body, the present invention being designed particularly as animprovement over the wagon-brake on which a patent was issued to meJanuary 5, 1897, No. 574,694. The brake manufactured under said patenthas been found defective in that no means is provided to throw thebrake-shoes away from the wheels should a flexible connection besubstituted for the rigid connection between the crank of the rollingshaft and the lever. Another clefect in the old brake is that it isnecessary to weaken the rear axle by perforating it to receive theadjusting-bolts connected by the rolling shaft and links to the boltscarried by the brake-beam. Another defect exists in that the draftbetween said axleand beam is not direct, because the links are pivotedto the rolling-shaft arms at the sides of the latter instead of in theplane of their centers.

The primary object of the present invention is to eliminate thesedefects.

The invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features ofconstruction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter describedand claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood I will proceedto describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a wagon to which myimprovements are applied. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the same. Fig. 3 isan enlarged central section taken on the dotted line 111 III. Fig. 4 isa cross-section taken on the line H II of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlargeddetailed perspective showing the connection between the axle andbrakebeam and the rolling shaft for adjusting the brake-beam.

In the said drawings, 1 designates the body Serial No. 713,420. (Nomodel.)

of the wagon, 2 the rear axle, and 3 the rear wheels. Secured to eachside of the wagonbody is a plate 4, and depending from each of saidplates is a chain 5, connected at its lower end to the plate 6, whichplates are secured to the rear side of the brake-beam 7, near its ends,and carried by said brake-beam, as usual, are the brake-shoes 8. I i

9 designates the usual coupling or reach bar, which centrally underliesthe wagonbody, and 10 a transverse inverted- U -shaped bracket whichforms a support for said coupling-bar, said bracket being provided atits lower ends with outwardly-projecting arms 11, upon which are boltedthe front ends of the parallel bars 12, which support the brakebeam andare bolted at their rear ends to the under side of the transverse block13, said block being provided with a cavity 14 in its front side and thecentral perforation l5,

registering with said cavity.

16 designates a guide-rod which is secured by screws 17 or in anysuitable manner to the brake-beam and projects rearwardly from andthrough the perforation 15, a spiral expansive spring 18 surroundingsaid rod and projecting at its rear end into the cavity 14, said springbeing adapted to normally hold the brake-beam so that its shoes will notbe in contact with the wagon-wheels 3. Said spring also obviatesrattling and reduces wear of the mechanism by keeping the various partstight.

l9 designates the hounds, which project forwardly from the axle in thecustomary manner and snugly embrace at their front ends thecoupling-bar, slightly forward of its point of intersection with thebracket 10, the latter also serving as a support for said hounds. Thelatter are overlapped by the projecting ends of the plate 20 upon thecoupling-bar and secured in place bybolts 21, extending through saidplate, said hounds, and said bracket and engaged by the taps 22 at theirlower ends. The connection between the coupling-bar and hounds isestablished by means of the customary coupling-pin 23, which may be heldin place by gravity or by other means.

24 designates a transverse bed-plate arranged just rearward of the block13 at the upper side of the coupling-bar and hounds and secured to thelatter, and 25 guide-plates depending therefrom, said guide-platessupporting the rolling shaft 26, extending transversely of thewagon-body and provided adjacent to said guide-plates with bifurcatedarms 27, the lower ends of said arms being pivotally connected toforwardly-extending links 28 and their upper ends torearwardlyextendinglinks 29, said links being arranged in thebifurcations of said arms and in the same vertical plane, so that thedraft or strain from the shaft will be transmitted in direct lines tothe axle and brake-beam, as presently appears.

The forward links 28 are pivotally con nected to the eyebolts 30,extending slidingly through the brake-beam and engaged at their frontends by taps 31, spiral expansive springs 32 upon said bolts beinginterposed between said taps and the brake-beam in order that the boltsmay have a limited independent movement of the beam to render theapplication of the brake more positive and reliable.

33 designates a pair of stirrups which embrace the axle 2, and securedupon the front ends of the stirrups, by means of taps 34, are thebrackets 35, provided with forwardly-proj ectin g parallel ears 36, eachhaving a plurality of holes 37, arranged in staggered relation to eachother, and 38 designates a bolt extending through the registering setsof said openings and through the interposed links 29. By engaging saidbolts with different sets of said openings it is obvious that wear ofthe parts may be taken up or compensated for and also that the distancewhich the shaft 26 must roll to properly apply the brakes may beregulated.

One end of the rolling shaft is extended and carries a crank 39,projecting upward at the corresponding side of the wagon-body, andconnected to said crank is a forwardly'extending rod 40, having apivotal connection with the lever 41, fulcrumed upon the wagonbody, saidlever extending upward to a point within convenient reach of the driver.

Rigidly carried by the lever 41 is a plate 42, between which plate andsaid lever a pawl 43 is pivotally mounted, said pawl having aforwardly-extending lug pivotally connected by the link 44 with thelever 45 through the medium of the plate 46, similar to plate 42, thelever 45 being fulcrumed on the lever 41 and given a tendency away fromsaid lever by means of an expansive spiral spring 47, this spring actingthrough the medium of the lever 45 to throw the pawl 43 into engagementwith the teeth of the curved rack-bar 48, secured to the side of thewagon-body.

The construction just described and covered by the numerals 40 to 48 issimilar in all respects to the corresponding parts of my aforesaidpatent, to which reference is directed for a full understanding of theiroperation. It is apparent that the forward movement or swing of thelever 41 through the medium of the rod 40 causes the rolling shaft tosimultaneously rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 5,and slide rearward, because anchored by the links 29 to the brackets 35,this operation of the shaft through the medium of the links 28 throwingthe brake-beam rearward until the shoes engage the peripheries of thewheels. In this operation it is obvious the spring 18 is compressed andthat the latter as soon as pawl 43 is tripped from engagment withrack-bar 48 forces the brake-beam forward again and releases the brakes.Because of this action it is obvious that a flexible connection betweenthecrank-arm 39 and lever 41 would serve as well as the rigid connectionshown. Consequently the simple tripping of the pawl is sufficient toinsure the immediate release of the brake, while in my previous brake itis necessary to pull the lever rearward after the pawl is releasedbefore the shoes are reliably disengaged from the wheels.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have accomplishedthe objects enumerated as desirable in the statement of invention, andit is to be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes inthe detailed construction, arrangement, or proportion of the parts aswill not be a departure from the spirit and scope or sacrifice any ofthe advantages of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wagon-brake, the wagon-body, the rear axle, the coupling-bar,the hounds, a bracket underlying the coupling-bar and carried by thehounds, bars secured to and proj ecting rearwardly from said bracket, ablock connecting the rear ends of said bars and provided with aperforation, a brake-beam supported upon said bars below the hounds andcoupling-bar and forward of said perforated block and provided withbrake-shoes, means to move said brake-beam rearward to apply the shoesto the wheels, and a spring interposed between the beam and said blockto disengage the shoes from the wheels, substantially as described.

2. In a wagon-brake, the wagon-body, the rear axle, the coupling-bar,the hounds, a bracket underlying the coupling-bar and carried by thehounds, bars secured to and proj ecting rearwardly from said bracket, ablock connecting the rear ends of said bars and provided with aperforation, a brake-beam supported upon said bars below the hounds andcoupling-bar and forward of said perforated block, and provided withbrake-shoes, means to move said brake-beam rearward to apply the shoesto the wheels, a rod secured to the brake-beam and projecting rearwardthrough the perforation of said block, and a spiral expansive springmounted on said rod and bearing at its opposite ends against the blockand the brake-beam, substantially as described.

3. In a wagon-brake, the wagon-body, the

axle, the brake-beam suitably supported, the the rolling shaft andhaving their rear ends IO rolling shaft suitably supported, and linkedmounted on said pivot-bolts between said to the brake-beam, stirrupsembracing the parallel ea-rs, substantially as described.

axle, brackets clamped upon said stirrups In testimony whereof I affixmy signature and the axle, and provided with parallel ears in thepresence of two Witnesses.

having a plurality of openings staggered with LAURENS S. XVHEELER.relation to each other, pivot-bolts extending itnesses:

through certain of said openings, and links M. R. REMLEY,

pivotally connected at their front ends to H. C. RODGERS.

